Dangerous Secrets
by bodiechan
Summary: A year after becoming human again, the objects are slowly adjusting to a normal life. But when Gaston's girlfriend comes to stay at the castle, Cogsworth's world is turned upsidedown.
1. Chapter One

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter One

Cogsworth smugly looked up at the clock for about the millionth time. Oh, how long had it been since he'd looked _at_ a clock without looking in the mirror, without being one himself! But now he was a human, with no worries except getting his work done on time.

Suddenly he heard a girl shouting, "…and I've seen you sneak off at night to meet those mysterious 'friends' of yours, Lumiere. You cannot fool me; you are seeing someone else!"

Babette, the maid, came running into view, with Lumiere right behind her. "Babette, mon chérie, please! You have it all wrong—"

The girl scoffed. "Oh, really? So what about that locket I found in your room? Did I give it to you and have forgotten, or is there something fishy around?"

"Uh…" Lumiere was lost for something to say.

"I thought so." Babette scowled. "Well then, Monsieur Lumiere, we are finished!" And with that she stormed off.

"Babette! Come back…" Lumiere sighed. "It is no use. She is gone." Suddenly he noticed Cogsworth. "What are you smirking at?"

Cogsworth turned away, still smiling. "Nothing, nothing, nothing."

Lumiere stared in disbelief. "You are not possibly _happy_ that she left me?"

"Of course not," said Cogsworth quickly.

Suddenly Lumiere grinned. "I get it. You are jealous!"

"Jealous? Me? Of _you_?"

"But of course! I have a girlfriend, and you, the 'head of the household,' do not."

"Correction: you _had_ a girlfriend," said Cogsworth. "Unless I am very much mistaken, Babette just dropped you like you meant less than nothing to her."

"I could easily find someone else," Lumiere replied, "unlike you."

"Unlike me? I could find a girl!" Cogsworth protested. "I just, er, do not see any need to have one."

"Right," Lumiere said sarcastically. "Like any girl would ever want to go out with a fun-killing over-grown clock."

"Well, why would anyone want to court a lazy, good-for-nothing candlestick!" retorted Cogsworth, furious.

"Is that a challenge, Cogsworth?"

"It was not meant to be, because if we did have a competition for a girl I would win easily and you would be left in the dust. I would not want to hurt your pride that badly. But if you would like to loose, Lumiere, then a challenge it is."

Just as Lumiere opened his mouth to say something very rude in reply, the front door swung open. A young woman was standing in the hall. "Hello?"

"Hello," said Cogsworth slowly.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle," said Lumiere, instantly seeing his chance.

"Bonjour, hello," she replied. "And who would you two be?"

Cogsworth reached out his hand to shake hers. "My name is Cogsworth, head of this—"

"I am Lumiere," Lumiere interrupted him. "Enchan—"

"…household," Cogsworth finished, cutting off his co-worker. "Welcome to our castle."

Lumiere glared at Cogsworth, who just glared back.

"Uh…" The girl realized she'd come in at a bad time. "My name is Marie."

"Marie, what a beautiful name," said Lumiere. "And how it suits it bearer!"

Marie giggled. "Why, thank you!"

"Pay no attention to Lumiere, the flatterer," said Cogsworth coolly. "May I ask what your business is here, Marie?"

"I'm looking for Prince Adam," she said. "Is this where he lives?"

"Yes, it is indeed," said Lumiere. "I shall escort you to him at once."

"No, you have work to do," said Cogsworth. "I will see that Miss Marie finds the master."

Lumiere rolled his eyes. "You always think there is more work to be done. Shouldn't you be off telling everyone the time or something?"

Cogsworth's eyes flashed in warning. "Well, shouldn't you be off lighting things on fire? Oh that's right, I forgot, you are too lazy and worthless to do any work!"

"How dare you!" Lumiere clenched his hands into fists.

Confused, Marie cried, "Please, stop! Fighting won't solve anything!"

The two men looked at each other. "We are dreadfully sorry," said Cogsworth. "May I show you to the master's room?"

Lumiere was about to protest when Mrs. Potts came running. "Lumiere! You're needed in the kitchen! Something has gone terribly wrong with tonight's dinner—"

"I didn't do it!" piped a small voice. Chip, Mrs. Potts's small son, emerged from behind his mother. "It's not my fault, Lumiere!"

"I know it is not," said Lumiere.

"What did you do this time, Chip?" asked Cogsworth with a sigh.

"I'm sorry!" cried Chip. "I didn't mean to!"

"It's quite all right," said Mrs. Potts soothingly.

"Lumiere, remember," said Cogsworth, glancing in his direction, "you're needed in the kitchen."

Lumiere rolled his eyes. "All right." And he walked away, following Mrs. Potts, with Chip still announcing that he hadn't done anything.

"So… shall we go see what the master is up to?" Cogsworth asked, turning to Marie.

"What happened in to the kitchen? Will Lumiere be all right?" asked Marie, worried.

"Oh, everything will be fine," Cogsworth assured her. "Come on, let's go."


	2. Chapter Two

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Two

Apparently, Marie was a friend of the Prince's coming for a stay, and he fixed her up in a nice little room in the castle. Cogsworth and Lumiere stopped in to see how she was so often that it was unnerving. She'd known from the moment she'd walked in the castle doors that they were going to be fighting for her affections, but not to this extreme. It was almost as if they were having a contest for who could best get her to fall for them.

A few days later, Marie woke up and found that the little grandmother clock by her bed was broken. She had opened up the glass middle and started adjusting the cogs inside when Cogsworth walked in.

He stared at her. "Stop it!" Cogsworth cried. "They don't like it when you do that!"

It took a moment for Marie to realize who he meant. "Who, the _clocks_?"

"Um, yes." Cogsworth blushed, embarrassed. "Well, it, um, _seems_ like the clocks would not like it…"

Marie blinked. What on earth was he talking about? "They are clocks," she finally said, "inanimate objects. They don't have feelings."

Cogsworth was about to reply that they did, and that he sure had feelings when HE had been a clock, when he remembered that the fact that the castle had been enchanted was supposed to remain a secret. Marie would probably think he was crazy if he claimed he had once been a clock, and then Lumiere would be free to run in and win the competition.

"Cogsworth?"

"Oh, yes, Marie?"

"Nothing… you were just… staring off into space…"

"Oh. I was simply… thinking."

------

That evening, it was becoming dark in Marie's room, and a candle was lit by the window. Lumiere walked inside and winced. Marie smiled when she saw him come in.

"Um, that candle is awfully… small," he said, staring at the hot wax running down its sides.

"Well, yes. When a candle burns, it generally gets smaller until it disappears." Marie wondered how Lumiere had never noticed that before, living in a castle full of candles and candelabras.

He winced again. "But doesn't that hurt the candle?"

Here they go again with thinking inanimate objects have feelings! Marie rolled her eyes. "Lumiere, it is simply a candlestick. It's not alive or anything."

"Of… course," said Lumiere, remembering his promise to keep quiet about himself being a candelabra. To change the subject, he remarked, "Has Cogsworth been in to see you?"

"As a matter of fact, he has. Almost more than you have, and that is saying something," Marie told him. "What's up with you two? It's like you're in some contest to be my lover or something."

"Uh… of… course we are not," Lumiere said, grinning innocently. "I… should be going."

He left the room, and to tell the truth, Marie wasn't very disappointed to see him go.

------

Mrs. Potts came into Marie's room with tea. "What's troubling you?" she asked, on seeing Marie's thoughtful face.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" piped Chip.

Marie smiled at him. "Oh, it's just… Cogsworth and Lumiere. It seems like they're obsessed with me. They come in to supposedly make sure I'm all right every five minutes, but I think they're both secretly checking to make sure the other isn't in here with me. I mean, what could happen? I'm in a PRINCE'S CASTLE." She sighed as Mrs. Potts poured the tea. Suddenly there was a loud crash as Marie's teacup dropped to the floor. "Sorry," she said, embarrassed. "I'm kind of clumsy."

Chip shuddered. "You killed it!"

Not him too! "It's just a teacup, Chip," said Marie, "it's not alive. It can't die."

"Yes it can!" moaned Chip. "You killed it!"

"I'm sorry about him…" Mrs. Potts patted Chip on the head. "Now, now, it's all right, Chip, everything's going to be all right."

"But, mom, it could have been one of my friends! Are you sure they're all human now too?"

"Yes, of course," Mrs. Potts said, glancing at Marie. "I'm sorry, Marie, he's a little bit, well… he doesn't know the difference between reality and fiction. Come on, off to the cupboard with you, Chip, it's your bedtime."

"The cupboard?" asked Marie, not sure she'd heard right. What kind of mother was this, who made her son sleep in the cupboard?!

"Oh, no, I mean bed." Mrs. Potts chuckled nervously. "Sorry again, habit, you see…"

Marie watched them walk off, thinking to herself that this was surely the strangest place she had ever been in.

------

"Cogsworth?"

"Yes, Marie?" Cogsworth was sitting by the window in his room, reading a book that Belle had recommended.

"I'd like to talk to you. Could you meet me back at my room?" asked Marie, standing in the doorway.

"Of course," he replied, and followed her out the door.

------

"Lumiere?"

"Yes, mon chérie?" Lumiere was sitting in his room, staring out the window.

"I would like a word with you. Could you come to my room with me…?" Marie asked, standing outside his room.

"I shall be there immediately." Lumiere stood up and proceeded out the door.

------

"What is _he _doing here?" Lumiere and Cogsworth cried together, when they saw who else had been asked to wait in Marie's room.

"I have something to tell both of you." Marie took a deep breath. "It seems like the two of you both want me. Face it, it's true. You're both in here every minute making sure the other _isn't_, and when I first arrived you couldn't stop fighting over who would show me the Prince's quarters. I'm sure you mean well, but I don't want you to get all worked up, because…" She paused.

"Well, what is it?" asked Cogsworth.

"I… have a boyfriend already," Marie admitted.

The two men stared at her open-mouthed. "You do not mean," said Cogsworth softly, "that this entire conte—I mean, entire affair, was in vain?"

She nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"May I ask, Marie, what the name of this lucky man is?" asked Lumiere.

Marie smiled. "Of course. His name is… Gaston."


	3. Chapter Three

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Three

"_Gaston?_ Your boyfriend is _Gaston_?" What Lumiere and Cogsworth really wanted to say was something more like, "Your boyfriend is the one who wanted to kill us and everyone in the castle?!" but they couldn't without giving away the enchantress's spell.

The two of them seemed extremely surprised. "Do you know him?" Marie asked.

"Yes, we knew him," said Lumiere bitterly.

"Pardon me for asking, but isn't Gaston… dead?" asked Cogsworth.

"No. He was in the hospital for many months, and the doctors all thought he was going to die. But one morning he woke up as good as new! Almost like, like…" Marie's eyes grew wide.

"…like magic," Lumiere finished for her. He and Cogsworth exchanged glances. "Excuse us for a moment, mon ché—Marie, Cogsworth and I have something we need to discuss."

"All right."

The two servants ran down the hallway and hid inside a broom closet. "We are alone…," Lumiere remarked.

Cogsworth scowled. "No, we're not! Babette!" He picked up a feather duster. "Get out of…" Suddenly he stopped. "This isn't her. Sorry, I was… forgetting. We had been objects for so long…"

Lumiere shook his head. "It is all right. Today Marie was going to let her candle burn out completely, and I asked her if that was going to hurt it!" He sighed.

"Well, Marie was playing with the insides of a clock and I told her they didn't like it when she did that," Cogsworth admitted.

There was a long, awkward silence. Finally Lumiere said softly, "Do you think it is possibly the same enchantress?"

"Impossible," said Cogsworth instantly. "She had a good reason for turning us into what we were. Gaston is a cruel man; she would never save him!"

"Cogsworth, do you think," Lumiere said, "that there is more than one enchantress out there, and not all of them are so kind?"

There was a pause. Cogsworth sighed. "I guess you are right. But under no circumstances can we let Marie know what we were! She will send for her boyfriend at once, and that will be the end of us and the master, not to mention Belle and everyone else in the castle!"

Lumiere agreed, and they went back to Marie's room. "We have talked," said Cogsworth simply.

Marie nodded. "I suppose you can't tell me what you were talking about."

"No, we are sorry," said Cogsworth. "It is top-secret information."

Marie giggled. "I think you would like Gaston. He told the funniest stories."

"Could you tell us one of these stories, Marie?" asked Lumiere.

And so Marie launched into Gaston's story. The girl he loved had turned him down for a terrible beast, as the beast had bewitched her to make her fall for him. Gaston had heroically attempted to save her, but when he walked into the castle with the other villagers a league of inanimate objects attacked them!

"There was a candelabra and a clock and a teapot and…" Suddenly it dawned on Marie. Her boyfriend's story was about a castle very much like the one she was now staying in. And some of the object-warriors in the battle included the things the servants of _this_ castle had thought were alive! But it couldn't possibly be the same place, what about the beast, where was he…?

"Yes, yes, go on," said Cogsworth.

"Huh? Oh, right." Marie told them that Gaston had cornered the terrible beast, but it was inhumanly strong and ferocious at that. Gaston's cowardly servant, Lefou, hadn't been there to save him, as Lefou had been busy fighting off a few chairs and a table. Gaston's love came to the rescue, but she was there to help out the beast and not Gaston. The man was able to kill the beast, but not before he had been pushed over the castle roof.

Cogsworth's mouth opened and closed several times when Marie had finished, at a loss of anything to say. Finally he asked, "Marie, what was the name of the girl Gaston loved?"

"It is not important, the beast has probably killed her by now." Marie shrugged, but her thoughts were in turmoil. A hideous beast and Gaston's old girlfriend had been killed on this very roof! If her theory was true, that was.

"Please, mon ché—" Lumiere stopped. "I apologize… Marie, we must know her name. It is of vital importance!"

Marie tried to remember. "I think her name was… Belle, maybe?"

Cogsworth and Lumiere exchanged glances. Their last hope was gone.

Could it be that they knew of the battle that had gone on here? Marie wondered. Did the _Prince_ know? But he couldn't have! And it was just a theory, after all. For the first time in her life, Marie sincerely hoped she was wrong.


	4. Chapter Four

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Four

"_Belle! Belle!_" Two voices sounded as their fists hammered on the door to the library.

"Open the door this instant!" That was Cogsworth's voice.

"We need to talk to you!" That was Lumiere.

Belle sighed and opened the door. Cogsworth and Lumiere tumbled inside, panting from having run all the way from Marie's room to the library on the other side of the castle.

"What is it, boys?" she asked.

"That girl that is staying here, Marie," Lumiere said, "is Gaston's girlfriend!"

"But… isn't Gaston dead?" asked Belle, astonished.

Cogsworth shook his head. "As crazy as this may sound, an enchantress, like the one that turned us into… well, turned us into OTHER things… she brought him back to life! I think Marie may be getting suspicious, as her boyfriend told her everything about the master and this castle! And to make matters worse, it sounds like she is completely on Gaston's side and will not hear a word against him!"

Belle gasped. "What are we going to do?!"

"That is why we have come," said Lumiere. "We could not think of anything."

Belle looked at them for a moment. "I did talk to Marie, this afternoon," she told them. "Actually, it was about… you."

Cogsworth glared at his companion. "Nice going, Lumiere!"

"I did not do anything! I am assuming she meant both of us," said Lumiere.

"Yes, I did," said Belle. "She said it was like you two were both trying to make her fall for you, like you were having a contest to get her affections. She thought the contest idea was silly… but I know you better. What were you trying to do?"

Embarrassed, Cogsworth looked at the floor. "It was all Lumiere's fault," he mumbled.

Belle rolled her eyes. "It's _always_ Lumiere's fault, to you, anyway. And I suppose you are going to say it's Cogsworth's fault, Lumiere."

Lumiere shook his head. "No, I will not give him the blame. However, we have a bigger problem on our hands."

Belle thought for a moment. "You two, try to figure out if Marie's caught on yet. If she hasn't figured out that we're the people in Gaston's story, then everything will be all right."

------

Marie had a plan. She had to figure out what was going on. So that afternoon, she snuck into the kitchens where Chip was standing beside his mother, tugging on Mrs. Potts' skirt.

"Mom, I'm bored," complained Chip.

Mrs. Potts sighed. "I'm sorry, dear, but there is so much to do…"

"…and no time for me," Chip grumbled. He suddenly noticed Marie in the corner. "Mama, mama! It's that girl that killed the teacup! _Mama!_"

"I'm not falling for that one again," said Mrs. Potts. "You said that Gaston had come back from the dead to attack us a few weeks ago when you were bored, remember?"

Gaston, coming to _attack_ them? Marie wondered why her boyfriend would want to harm these nice people. Unless… of course! They were in league with the beast and the living objects of the house!

"Chip," Marie whispered. "It's me, Marie."

Chip screamed. "Don't drop me! You're going to kill me!"

"No, I'm not," Marie assured him. "Come on, come with me. We'll have fun together."

"Are you sure?"

"I promise I won't hurt you. Word of honor. Come, we'll have fun."

Chip paused, thinking it over. "More fun than I'll ever have here, probably," he muttered, and followed her out the door.

"I still don't trust you," Chip told her, once they were back in Marie's room.

"You don't?"

"I don't trust anyone who kills teacups," he replied.

"Chip, why do you think that teacups are… alive?"

"Because they are. I was a teacup. I know how it feels to be one."

It took a moment for his words to sink in. "You _were_ a teacup?" Marie repeated incredulously.

And then he remembered. "Oh, no! I'm not supposed to be telling you this! It's a secret!"

"I won't tell anyone," Marie promised. "Please, Chip, what happened? How were you, er, a teacup?"

"Why should I tell you? You would just drop me on the floor," Chip replied curtly, and fled from the room.

Marie sighed. So Chip had been a teacup, or at least he said he had been. And someone, probably his mother, had forbid him to tell anyone about it. This was making no sense at all. Here she was, an accomplished woman, trying to make sense of a six-year-old's words. She sighed. If Chip had been told not to tell anyone, surely everyone else in the castle had been sworn to secrecy too. No one would be willing to tell her about it.

And then an idea came to her. There_ were_ two people in the castle who seemed vulnerable, who could be persuaded to let something slip if she flattered them in the right way. Marie chuckled, wondering why she hadn't thought of it before. The two of them would do anything she said.

She knew she could easily find out the secret of the castle by nightfall, thanks to Lumiere and Cogsworth.


	5. Chapter Five

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Five

Marie had just set out to go and interrogate Lumiere and Cogsworth when she ran into Babette in the hallway. "Prince Adam and his wife would like you to have dinner with them."

"Now?" Marie groaned inwardly. Could they have picked worse timing?!

"Yes, now," replied the maid. She paused. "Are you and Lumiere…"

"Oh, no, I have a boyfriend," said Marie quickly, "and it's not him. Why, do you like him?"

Babette sighed. "Every other time I have broken up with him, Lumiere has always decided to try and make up. But now he has not, and I am afraid he has moved on…"

"Then why did you break up with him the first place?" asked Marie, confused.

"Oh, that is none of your business!" cried Babette. "You are wanted in the dining room, now."

Marie sighed, but she had no choice but to obey.

------

"Where are you going, Cogsworth?"

Cogsworth turned to see Lumiere behind him. "How long have you been following me?" he demanded.

Lumiere shrugged. "Not very long. You are not very interesting to follow."

Cogsworth ignored the insult. "So, may I ask _why_ you are following me?"

"I had nothing of importance to do."

"The master and his wife are having dinner! Shouldn't you be serving them?"

"They are in the middle of their first course right now. I will return when I am needed."

"Lazy," muttered Cogsworth.

"Well, where do _you_ think you are going?"

Cogsworth avoided the question. "A better question would be why you are following me."

"To see where you are going, of course!"

"I was going to… well… can I get back to you on that?"

"Cogsworth!"

"All right! I was going to see if Marie was all right."

"The competition is off, remember?" Lumiere reminded him. "Actually, I was thinking of trying to make up with Babette myself. Why are you still trying to…?" Lumiere smirked. "I get it. You like her anyway! It does not matter that our contest is no longer on, you still want to win Marie's affections."

"No, of course not! I was merely seeing if she was… comfortable."

"Well, she is having dinner with Belle and the master. You are out of luck, mon ami. And no offense to you, but no one would ever choose you over Gaston."

"_What?!_ Why not?" cried Cogsworth, outraged.

"Well, Gaston _is_ rude, arrogant, and self-centered… but then again, so are you. And as well, you are obsessed with keeping order, which can get extremely annoying. Let us see… Gaston is also better-looking, more fit, and overall better at everything."

"Why you little…" Cogsworth was ready to tear Lumiere to shreds, but at that exact moment, Chip came running down the hall.

"Guys, help! I'm sorry, but she asked and I told her and it happened and I forgot and now she knows and she's gonna kill me and all the teacups and we're all in danger and I'm sorry and my mama's gonna be mad but she doesn't know and I don't think she even cares because she wasn't paying attention to me at all and that's why I left with _her_ and that's how she knows and it's all my fault and I broke my promise but I didn't tell her too much just what I was not how I got to be it or about you or you or the master or anyone and now I gotta go because I had muddy shoes and Babette is following me if I stay here any longer she's going to kill me for getting the floor dirty!"

There was a moment of silence when the two of them tried to make sense of what Chip had said. Finally Cogsworth said softly, "I am disappointed in you, Chip."

"I'm sorry!" Chip repeated.

"You walked on the carpet with muddy shoes! Hasn't everyone always told you never to do that?"

"Cogsworth, you fool!" Lumiere cried. "Haven't you realized what he meant? He told someone about our secret! About the enchantress and her spell!"

"WHAT?! Well, of course, I knew this the entire time. I was merely testing your intellect, Lumiere."

Lumiere rolled his eyes. "Then you have probably also gathered who he told."

"Uh…" Cogsworth eyes darted around the hallway. "I think… he said… perhaps… well…"

"There is only one 'she' in this castle that does not know, Cogsworth," said Lumiere. "And that person would be Marie."

Cogsworth remembered Belle's words to him and Lumiere. "'If she hasn't figured out that we're the people in Gaston's story, then everything will be all right,'" he said slowly, repeating them.

"I'm sorry!" cried Chip. "What does it mean?"

"It simply means, my dear boy," said Lumiere, "that everything will not be all right."


	6. Chapter Six

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Six

The dinner was a strange one for Marie. Prince Adam was making small talk until someone arrived to join them. "Oh, Marie," said Adam, "I would like you to meet my wife."

"I have met her," said Marie, curtsying politely. "But I never did catch your name."

"Belle," the Prince's wife replied.

Marie gasped. Could it somehow, possibly, perhaps, be the same Belle from Gaston's story? Did she know about what had happened in this very castle, on her very roof? Maybe she knew whether Chip had really been a teacup, or the true fate of the beast and his servants. But no, of course… Belle had probably been sworn to secrecy like the others, and wouldn't tell Marie a single word. "I'm… very pleased to meet you, Belle," she said with a small smile.

Throughout the night, Marie dropped hints, trying to get Belle to reveal some clue to the mystery, but she remained tight-lipped and ignored all references to the subject. At the same time, Belle understood what Marie was implying and was amazed at how much she knew. But neither woman showed a single sign that they had figured out what the other was getting at.

Finally, the frustrated Marie and the very concerned Belle went their separate ways; Belle to warn Adam about all that Marie knew, and Marie to find Lumiere or Cogsworth to question. Both of them were extremely annoyed, however, that the other had been so unhelpful. And though they had wished each other good night, so Adam would still think them kind, they were both secretly hoping the worst of nights would fall upon the other.

------

Cogsworth was just heading off to bed when he ran into Marie in the hallway. "Hi, Cogsie," she said, smiling mischievously, "where are you going?"

_Cogsie?!_ Why that was the most idiotic and humiliating nickname anyone had ever thought of, let alone called him! "It is Cogsworth," he corrected her, wondering what Marie was getting at.

"I know." She giggled and batted her eyelashes at him.

Cogsworth blinked. Was she possibly doing what he thought she was doing? But no girl had ever flirted with him before; girls always preferred the romantic Lumiere to him, being uptight and orderly.

"Cogsie, I have a problem. There's something weird going on in this castle, but I can't figure out what it is. Surely someone as intelligent as yourself would know what is going on. After all, you're so efficient in your work that you must have some time to spare around here…"

Intelligent? Had she just called him intelligent? And efficient at his work too! Cogsworth smirked; Marie sure knew how to charm him. But he knew what she was up to and didn't intend to tell Gaston's girlfriend a thing about the enchantment, whether she was a flirt or not. "Something strange is going on? What do you mean? There is nothing unusual about our castle."

"Oh, you know what I mean. The fact that everyone here has a particular object they seem to think is alive, that Adam's wife's name is the same as Gaston's old girlfriend's, that Chip claimed to have been a teacup? I think that there is something unusual for sure, and you know what it is."

Cogsworth laughed nervously. "No, you must be mistaken. The mistress's name is just a coincidence, and Chip having been a teacup is an old joke around the castle. He must have forgotten that you were not in on the joke. I am sorry, but there is nothing strange in this castle, no…"

"It's too bad. I thought you could tell me something." Marie started to walk away. "I suppose I will go find Lumiere."

"Lumiere?" Cogsworth asked, trying in vain to make his voice sound calm and merely curious. What did she want with Lumiere?!

"Yes, Lumiere… things haven't been going so well between Gaston and I. You know how relationships can be," Marie told him with a wink. "And Lumiere is such a sweet man. Perhaps he and I will be something more than friends."

THAT GOOD-FOR-NOTHING LUMIERE! roared a voice in Cogsworth's head. He had Babette's affections, and that wicked candelabra wanted Marie was well! Cogsworth had waited ten long years as a clock keeping the castle in order, just for his best friend to steal his girl?!

All right, calm down, Cogsworth told himself. Lumiere was stealing his girl. Okay, fine, it had happened before. _His_ girl? Since when had Marie been interested in him, anyway? She had seemed so flirtatious, but now Cogsworth knew it had been a trap to try and get him to tell her about the enchantment. And, well, if she was going out with Lumiere, he could keep his secrets. Why should he tell things to the girl he so much despised? And yet something inside him still wished that she could be his…

"Well, good night," Cogsworth said. "Have a nice time with… Lumiere."

"You too. See you around, Cogsie." Before she ran off, she kissed Cogsworth lightly on the cheek and smiled.

Cogsworth touched the place where Marie's lips had been moments before. But far from understanding what was going on, mysteries arose in his head like flames in a fireplace. And even though Marie thought he knew more than she did, he still had no idea what the girl was up to.

------

Marie stormed down the hall, frustrated and alone. She had been so sure that with a little flattery, she could get Cogsworth to reveal his secrets, but no. Not even her false love for Lumiere could make Cogsworth blurt something to her. Enraged, Marie wasn't looking where she was going, and her feet soon led her to the library.

She flopped down into an armchair with a loud groan. "Why can't an answer be _simple_ for a change?" she asked aloud, not expecting a reply.

"Answer: reply, respond, react, come back with, rejoin, counter, retort." A tall man with half-moon glasses perched on his nose walked into the room. "Allow me to introduce myself… Webster, castle librarian."

Marie smiled. Was this, perhaps, someone normal for a change? "I'm Marie, guest to the castle. Nice to meet you."

"I am pleased to meet you as well. We don't get many visitors around here these days. Our castle is… odd in some ways."

"Oh, Webster, everything here is so confusing! I don't know what to think!"

"Yes, people in this castle do tend to obfuscate things," Webster agreed.

"Obfuscate? What does that mean?" asked Marie.

"Obfuscate: to make something obscure or unclear, especially by making it unnecessarily complicated; confuse, disguise, conceal, complicate," he recited.

"How did you do that?" she asked, her mouth agape.

"Do what?"

"Remember all that, of course. It sounded like you've memorized the entire dictionary or something!"

Webster smiled sheepishly. "Well, I do know a bit more about the dictionary than most people do."

"How so?" inquired Marie, curious.

"Well, I have read it several times, being the librarian here," Webster lied smoothly. He wasn't nervous at all that she should find out he had actually _been _a dictionary. After all, how could she possibly know? he thought. Webster tended to avoid the rest of the castle, where the other servants called him a show-off, and preferred to stay in the library with a few friends instead. As a result, he knew nothing of Marie and Gaston and the dilemma that his master faced about how to handle the outsider girl.

"What are you reading?" asked Marie, looking at the book in Webster's hands.

He smiled. "Ah, this. It is a wonderful work of fiction, about a magical wood far away…"

Webster and Marie talked for a while about books and magic and things of the sort. When Marie brought up the oddities of the castle, however, Webster avoided the subject.

Finally two other men walked into the room. The first turned up his nose in distaste. "Who is the girl, Webster?" he asked in a squeaky, irritating voice.

"This is Marie, guest to the castle," the librarian replied. "Marie, I would like you to meet two of my friends, LaPlume and Crane. They are the castle scribes." At her puzzled look, he explained, "Scribe: somebody who copies or writes out documents, especially—"

"It's okay, I know what a scribe is," she said quickly.

"Forgive Webster, he's always defining stuff," said Crane.

Marie smiled. "Yeah, I noticed."

"And why are you two in the library so late at night?" asked LaPlume.

Marie shrugged. "I don't know." But she knew. She had found Webster, who seemed to trust her, unlike everyone else in this strange castle. She had found someone to confide in, a friend.

"You probably should be heading off to bed," Crane told her.

Marie scowled. Leave it to the other servants to ruin things for her. "All right, all right." But when she was halfway to the door, Webster called her back.

"Take this with you," he said, handing her the book he was reading. "I think you will enjoy it."

Marie smiled. "Thank you. Good night, Webster."

"Goodbye, farewell, adieu," Webster called after her. "Good night, Marie."

------

The next morning, Marie was up and about before anyone else was. In the few hours to herself, she went down to the library and was disappointed to not see Webster there. Instead she decided to read the book he'd given her. It was a great adventure story full of love and magic and confusion and she couldn't put it down. Reading while walking can be dangerous, however, and she literally ran into Lumiere in the hallway.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Marie, blushing. She picked her book up off of the ground. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Oh, it is fine," Lumiere assured her. "You remind me of the mistress, always with her nose in another storybook."

Marie decided to try asking Lumiere the questions which no one would answer. "Lumiere, why does everyone in the castle think objects are alive?"

"I do not know." He shrugged, but Marie thought she could detect nervousness in his eyes. "It is nothing of importance, just a joke we have around the castle."

"Like Chip having been a teacup," Marie said.

"Uh, yes, like that."

"Will no one tell me what's_ really_ going on? You're lying. I can tell."

"Well, you know what they say. The proof is in the pudding."

Suddenly Cogsworth appeared from behind the corner. "I couldn't help overhearing… what was that you were saying about… pudding?"

Lumiere smirked. "'The proof is in the pudding' is an expression, Cogsworth. We were not actually talking about pudding itself."

"Oh…" Cogsworth looked disappointed.

"Cogsworth has an obsession with pudding," Lumiere explained. "But the rest of the castle has decided that he should go on a diet… that means no pudding for you!"

"I am not obsessed!" cried Cogsworth. "I just have a… a weakness."

"Right," Lumiere said, not impressed. "Come, Marie, we have no need to talk to the likes of him."

"Okay…" Marie glanced back at Cogsworth before following Lumiere away.

"Anyway, on the topic of food, I am making the menu for tonight's dinner," he told her. "Is there anything special you would like for dessert?"

And then an idea came to Marie. It was crazy, yet brilliant, and it just might work. She could find out the secrets of this castle yet. And so she told Lumiere, "I'm rather fond of pudding."


	7. Chapter Seven

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Seven

It was late afternoon when Marie snuck into the kitchens. The cook, Chef Bouche, had already finished making dinner for that night and was somewhere else in the castle, and so no one was around to see a girl grab the enormous bowl of pudding and run upstairs.

Marie found Cogsworth in his room. "Cogsie?"

He sighed, not looking at her. "Please, do not call me that. You take the worth out of my name." He chuckled at his little joke.

"I like it. You still have worth to me. Here, I got you something…"

Cogsworth looked up and gasped at the huge bowl of pudding in Marie's arms. "Where on earth did you get that?"

"I have my sources." She smiled mischievously.

Cogsworth smiled back. And then suddenly he became suspicious. "Wait a minute. I know what this is about. You're trying to trick me. You are not here to help; you are here to ridicule me and then go off and laugh about it with Lumiere."

"Lumiere?"

"Your boyfriend, remember?"

"We, uh… broke up," Marie lied. They had never been. "Did you have a problem with me and him when we were together?"

"No, no, of course not!" Cogsworth's voice rose. "Why would I have a problem with it? Lumiere always gets the girls. Why would I care?"

"Cogsie, please." Marie flinched as he glared at her. "I'm not trying to trick you. Here, take this." She held out the pudding.

"What's the catch?" The pudding smelled delicious. Cogsworth hoped desperately that there was no catch, but he knew this girl wasn't one to randomly give him a bowl full of his favorite food without a good reason.

"Well, uh, I've been trying to figure out what's going on in the castle, as you probably know. If you tell me why everything's so strange—and none of this 'it's a private joke' business, I know you're lying—then you can have it."

"Well, uh, you see…" Would it really be so bad to tell her? Maybe they were all being paranoid, and Marie could be trusted. Just because she had once been in love with Gaston didn't mean she was a wicked girl; it just meant that she had sense and had picked a strong, handsome man. Why shouldn't he tell her? Because Lumiere said not to. Good for nothing Lumiere! Cogsworth scowled. Maybe he could tell Marie the secret… it wouldn't matter… he would make her promise first not to tell Gaston… everything would be all right… the pudding smelled good… very good…

"Cogsworth, what on earth do you think you are doing?!"

Cogsworth snapped out of his fantasies and turned to see Lumiere in the doorway. "Nothing," he automatically replied.

"Nothing! You are holding an enormous bowl of pudding!" Lumiere glared at him. "Is that the pudding for tonight's dinner?"

"Of course not! Is it?" Cogsworth asked Marie.

Marie blushed. "Well, you see…"

"Marie, you have got some explaining to do," Lumiere told her.

"I…"

"Marie!" Chip ran between Lumiere's legs and up to the girl. "You found the pudding! Mama said it was missing, and you found it!"

"She was the one who stole the pudding in the first place," said Cogsworth.

"And you were about to do her bidding, anything she pleased, just for a small taste of it." Lumiere shook his head. "Sometimes, Cogsworth, I just do not understand you…"

"But I understand Marie's intentions very well," Cogsworth said crossly. He shoved the pudding back into her hands. "I do not want anything to do with it."

"But…" Marie sighed. "Cogsie, please—"

Lumiere snickered. "'Cogsie'?"

"I didn't give her permission to call me that!" Cogsworth cried indignantly.

"The girl is _Gaston's girlfriend_," Lumiere replied. "You cannot trust girls like that!"

"And_ you_ are telling _me_ this? I thought you were going out with her!"

"_What?_ Who told you that?"

"Marie."

"Marie!" Lumiere glared at her. "What is this?"

"Uh… I…" Marie fumbled with the pudding, trying to think of something to say. Suddenly her eyes fell on Chip. "Chip…"

"Teacup killer," he said instantly, still angry.

"She's just trying to get our secrets so she can tell Gaston!" said Cogsworth. "It is a good thing I didn't tell her anything."

"You? You would have told her if I had not butt in," protested Lumiere.

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

"Would _not_!"

"Look, fighting will do us no good." Lumiere sighed. "I think we all know the source of our problems."

Three angry pairs of eyes looked straight at Marie.

------

Marie was miserable. No one in the castle trusted her. Lumiere and Cogsworth refused to speak to her, still mad about the pudding incident, and the other servants all thought she was some kind of lunatic, ready to attack them at any time, because she had once had an affair with Gaston. The Prince and his wife were always busy, and she soon realized that they were trying to avoid her. The only thing that kept Marie from giving up on the secret altogether and going straight home was Webster.

Most of her days were spent down in the library with him and a good book. Hopefully, LaPlume and Crane wouldn't run in asking for Webster, and when they did, she could simply borrow a book and read it in her room. Webster was her only friend in the castle, and a good one at that.

One day Marie went downstairs to find Webster not in the library. She sat down anyway, pulling out the book he'd given her. She was almost finished, and was sad it had to end, but the book was suspenseful and Marie just had to know what happened next. As she started to read, Sultan, the castle dog, ran under her feet like a footstool. Unfazed, she reached down and scratched him on the head. Sultan always lay under people's feet like that.

She finished her book in no time at all, and Webster still hadn't showed. Marie looked around the shelves for another book to read, but none of them seemed very interesting. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she knew she would know when she saw it. Finally she looked on top of Webster's desk, and there sat a large hand-bound paperback with the title _Beauty and the Beast_.

Marie opened it to the first page. "Once upon a time…" it began, like most fairy tails. But the ink on the pages looked fresher than most of the other books, and the handwriting looked strangely like someone's handwriting she knew…

"Put that down." It was a familiar voice, but Marie jumped anyway. She wasn't used to Webster sounding so cold. "It's private: confidential, personal, hush-hush, classified, secret, clandestine, concealed, undisclosed."

The one person who trusted her now wouldn't even let her read one of his books. She turned away. "Fine. I'll leave."

"Marie, please. Wait, remain, stay." Webster seemed to think something over. And finally he said, "It is the story of this castle, from the moment the Prince was born to the moment our story ended, finished, stopped. I recorded it myself, with LaPlu—I mean… a pen. It was supposed to be secret, but I give you my permission—consent, agreement, authorization—to read it."

The story of the castle?! All the secrets she'd been trying to access were now in her very hands! Marie was stunned. He did trust her. "Thank you," she said softly.

Webster smiled. "It was nothing."

------

Now it was clear. An enchantress had come. The servants of the castle had all been turned into objects. The Prince was a horrible beast. Belle came and broke the spell, and Gaston was thrown off the roof. The story sounded so far-fetched that Marie wouldn't have believed it at all… if Gaston hadn't told her the same thing. And Marie strongly doubted he had simply been reading the book Webster wrote and claimed he was the "Gaston" in the story.

Cogsworth was a clock, Lumiere a candelabra, Mrs. Potts a teapot. Chip_ had_ been a teacup like he said, and even her friend Webster had been a dictionary. It all fit and she was becoming less and less surprised as she read on. Of course, it was perfect that Sultan was a footstool, the way he now acted around visitors. She was on the edge of her seat when the evil organ tried to break up Belle and the beast, and she was nearly crying at the end when the beast died before he had become human, and then Belle's love brought him back. She had read the whole thing over and was fully on the castle's side when she remembered.

The other side was Gaston.

There was no way she could betray him! But he was so sure he had killed the beast. Suddenly Marie was scared. What if the Prince was still a monster on the inside? And then she decided to do the only think she could think of.

Marie had to call Gaston, and beg him to come and destroy the beast once again.


	8. Chapter Eight

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Eight

It took Marie about two hours to find the phone, since no one in the castle would talk to her. The mansion was enormous, and it was impossible to find anything unless you knew exactly where to go. Finally she went into the kitchen and saw it sitting right on the table. Why is the thing you're looking for always in the last place you look? Marie thought angrily.

She quickly glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching and picked up the phone. She dialed Gaston's number.

The phone rang.

It rang again. Marie held her breath anxiously.

It rang a third time… but then someone on the other end picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" It wasn't Gaston's voice that answered. Marie groaned inwardly; it was LeFou, Gaston's loyal servant and, to her, the most annoying person on the planet.

"Hello," said Marie. "Is Gaston there?"

"Marie!" To her great irritation, LeFou recognized her voice. "Hiya! Where are you?"

"I'm at Prince Adam's house. He's… a friend of mine." Marie wasn't about to tell LeFou about the castle and the beast. She didn't trust him with the secret, and besides, he probably wouldn't even be able to take a message and repeat it accurately to Gaston. "Is Gaston there?" she repeated impatiently.

"Aw, you just missed 'em," said LeFou. "He went out hunting with his friends a few minutes ago. He should be back soon with lotsa game; he's the best hunter in the whole world! You want me to take a message?"

"That's… okay."

"Are ya sure?"

"Yes."

"Aw, come on! You don't trust me?"

"All right!" Marie cried. "Uh, I need Gaston to… pick me up at the castle. And bring as many… friends as he can."

"Why?" LeFou asked, excited.

Did he never shut up?! "Because the Prince is having a party and he said I should invite Gaston. And that Gaston should bring some friends. Uh, I made friends with the Prince's wife. Her name is Belle. Tell Gaston that." It was a risk telling this to LeFou, as he had been around at the time Gaston tried to marry Belle, but she knew Gaston would get the hint. Come. Quickly. I need help.

"Wow, Belle! That name sounds… familiar." He puzzled over it for a moment. "The inventor's daughter? The one Gaston wanted to marry, who lived in a weird castle full of living objects?"

"Uh, no. Different Belle."

"Okay! I'll tell him!"

"Yeah. Uh, bye."

"Aw, but I miss ya! Can't you stay and talk for just a few minutes?"

"No, I, uh, have to go…" And with that she abruptly hung up the phone… and gazed straight into Cogsworth's eyes.

He was standing in the doorway, shaking nervously. His eyes were wide and his voice sounded high and unsure. "Who did you call?" Cogsworth asked her.

"No one," she said quickly.

"Marie, who did you call?" he repeated, still staring.

"Uh… well… this man named LeFou…"

"Who is he?"

"Uh, he's…"

"You didn't call Gaston?" Cogsworth relaxed a little.

"You're a clock." Now it was Marie who looked nervous. "You're a freak, a clock, an object. The Prince is a terrible monster and you… you _helped_ him!"

"How do you know that? Who told you?! It's not true, it's a… a lie!" Cogsworth's face drained of all color, his eyes as big as golf balls. "Who… how…?"

"Webster wrote a book on the castle," Marie explained. "And now I know. I know what happened. And what _will _happen if I don't do something!"

In that instant, as Marie grabbed the phone again, Cogsworth made a mad lunge across the room and landed in a heap on the floor. Marie quickly dialed Gaston's other number, the one belonging to the phone he had his servants carry when he went hunting. Normally LeFou was the one to carry his extra phone, but apparently Gaston had taken pity on him and not made him go into the woods he so feared.

One ring. Two. Three.

Cogsworth looked up helplessly. What could he do? If she got to Gaston, that certainly meant the end. And then he thought of something so crazy it just might… work. "Oh, enchantress!" he called. "Wherever you are! The one who turned us into objects or the one who saved Gaston, I don't care! Please, please, for the greater good, stop Marie from reaching Gaston on the phone!"

And with a loud clatter he fell to the ground.

------

Moan. Cogsworth struggled to get up. His body felt unreal and unfamiliar. Everything was so much… bigger…

He looked down at his hands. Oh_ no_, this couldn't have happened! The rest of his body was the same. This was awful, terrible, impossible… but for now only one thing mattered: if Marie reached her boyfriend on the phone, they'd all be dead at Gaston's hands. And worse, Lumiere would know it was all Cogsworth's fault. If somehow they survived Gaston's attack, Lumiere would never let them forget who had failed to stop Marie from calling him.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

Cogsworth waddled awkwardly over to the table and tried to see to the top. Still no Marie. But there was a mirror on the floor lying face-down he almost tripped over, one that hadn't been there before. Maybe it had fallen out of her pocket.

And to Cogsworth's horror, standing by the door was none other than a certain candelabra he knew all too well. "What is this?" demanded Lumiere. "I thought the spell was broken!"

"Well, it… it was," Cogsworth said meekly. "I'm afraid I don't know what happened."

"What did you _do_?"

Cogsworth explained about the phone and his prayer to the enchantress, growing more and embarrassed every time he looked up from the floor into Lumiere's disgusted face, on the candlestick he'd hoped never to see again.

"The enchantress? That was the best you could do?" Lumiere scoffed. "It was probably the one who saved Gaston, you brainless clock!"

"I know, all right? Just so you know, I am not too happy with being a clock again myself."

"Then we have something in common. We both do not like you," Lumiere said coldly.

At that moment a teapot hopped into the room with a chipped cup in tow. "Lumiere! Cogsworth! Heavens, what is going on?" she asked.

"Yeah, what happened?" Chip asked sadly. "I thought I was gonna get to be a boy forever."

"So did I," Mrs. Potts told him gently. She glared at the others. "As for you two, I could hear you fighting all the way across the castle."

"He started it," they both replied automatically, pointing at the other.

"Well, this isn't good." Mrs. Potts sighed. "What will we tell the others?"

"Oh dear," said Cogsworth, growing, if possible, even paler.

"We will tell them who is responsible!" Lumiere hissed angrily.

"No, no! I had nothing to do with this; it's not my fault!" Cogsworth protested. "I… I…"

"Oh, Cogsworth, stop it, we know it was you," the candelabra replied.

"Will you stop? What's done is done, and fighting won't change anything," said Mrs. Potts, "expect give us all a headache. Come on, we'll have to tell the others eventually. Might as well be now."

"Who's that?" Chip piped up. He hopped over to the mirror on the floor.

"Who?" chorused the other objects.

"The mirror," Chip said. "I don't remember a mirror."

Lumiere ran, as well as a candelabra can run, to the teacup's side. He put where his ear would be to the mirror's back. "I think I can hear breathing. Cogsworth, get her up."

"Why me?"

"Oh, come on, Cogsworth. Mrs. Potts doesn't have arms and I would only set this mirror on fire."

And so the clock pulled the mirror to its feet. Her face was familiar, and he recognized it in an instant. He let out a sigh of relief: Marie hadn't been able to call Gaston after all.

"What… happened…?" the mirror asked groggily.

"We were all turned into objects again," Cogsworth explained, "and you, Marie, are now a mirror."

She looked down at her body. She was a slender stick with metal flowers wound around her makeshift chest, and her face was imprinted on a large, reflective surface. Slowly but surely, she pulled two of the decorative flower vines off of her body, with only one end attached. She waved them in the air, and then toppled over.

"Arms," Marie explained.

The five objects hopped (or, in Cogsworth's case, waddled) around the house. The clock shuddered at everyone's glares, as Lumiere never failed to tell them just who had prayed to the enchantress and gotten them into this mess. Marie recognized all of the objects from Webster's book: Angelique the Christmas angel, Fife the piccolo, Hak the axe, Madam de la Grand Bouche the wardrobe. And she saw old friends anew: Babette as a feather-duster, Sultan as a footstool, Crane and LaPlume as paper and a pen, Webster as a dictionary. Even though Lumiere was practically shouting in her ear that it was Cogsworth's fault every five seconds, she felt partly responsible.

And then they all fell silent as a pale blue book with a beautiful face came forward, fuming and glaring at everyone she passed.

"Mistress," said Lumiere softly.

"Belle?" asked Marie.

The book nodded. "It's a good thing Adam was out. He would have been furious at the lot of you." Her voice was merely a whisper, but Cogsworth felt as though he wished she were screaming. She quivered with anger. "Who is responsible for this?"

And everyone that hands pointed them at Cogsworth.


	9. Chapter Nine

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Nine

The dungeon. Dark, cold, damp. Marie's new home. She was miserable and alone there, as a mirror, but she supposed she deserved it. Gaston still hadn't come, but now she wasn't even sure she wanted him to. Which side was she on? Gaston or the objects? She felt horrible that Cogsworth had to take the blame for them being objects for her; the others were ignoring him. Lumiere was sure to cheerfully tell her of it when he brought her food, as he was the only one that could find his way down in the dark.

Of course, Prince Adam had come home to a castle full of his servants-turned-objects and had been very surprised, not to mention more than a little angry. Marie could tell why he'd once been a beast when he lashed out at her and confined her to this prison.

A series of dull thuds told her that someone had just fallen down the stairs. And it had hurt, apparently; she could tell from their cries of pain. It didn't sound like Lumiere. Why was someone trying to come down to see her? It was against the Prince's orders, and the servants were all afraid of him…

Cogsworth limped into view, clutching his side. "That was rather painful," he gasped, before collapsing onto the floor.

"Cogsworth!" Marie was genuinely surprised. Of all the servants, in her mind, he was the least likely to break the rules. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh dear, what I wouldn't give to be able to hold a candle," he moaned, ignoring her question. "Those good old days when I was human I'll never take for granted again, no siree. Ohhhhhh dear."

"Um, Cogsworth?" asked the mirror gently.

His eyes fell on her and he struggled to stand up. "Yes, what is it?"

"What are you doing here in the dungeon?"

Cogsworth sighed. "I would have liked to have run down the stairs and triumphantly give you the key to your cell, and become your hero by freeing you and running away from here together, but instead I had to tumble down in the dark and loose the key. And I think I broke something, I'm sure a cog popped out."

"That was brave of you," Marie observed.

"Why, thank you, Marie." Cogsworth smiled weakly. He leaned against the wall for support. "Maybe I'll find the key… sometime. Once I recover."

"Thanks for trying to save me," Marie said softly.

"If only I could have succeeded. Lumiere could never call me coward again! If I ever make it out of here, that is," he finished in a small voice, glancing up at the stairs that towered over him.

"So is that why you came? So Lumiere couldn't make fun of you anymore?"

"No, no! I came to free you." He blushed considerably. "I… took a liking to you when you first came to this castle."

"Yeah, I noticed." She gave a snort of laughter. "You were all 'come with me and be my girlfriend!' and Lumiere was telling me 'no, not him, choose me!' and you two would never shut up about who should have me as your girl. Thank goodness you stopped."

"Well, yes. We were having a competition, and I was acting not how I should," Cogsworth admitted. "But now… I mean, after the contest ended… I still… well…"

Marie smiled sadly. "Yes. I know. But I'm with Gaston, Cogsworth. Don't get me wrong, I like you. You're a nice guy, you're sweet, and you make me laugh…" She paused. "Only I don't like you… that way."

"Oh, Marie. If only." Sigh. A pause.

"But you know it can't be."

"And you know Gaston will never accept you when he finds out you are a mirror! He likes good looks in his women, that Gaston, mark my words, he only cares about you because you're beautiful."

"Do you think I'm beautiful?"

"Yes, but that doesn't matter, does it? You're you, Gaston's girlfriend or not." Cogsworth stared into her eyes. "Mirror or human, you're still perfect."

Marie looked at him through the bars of her cell. "If only that were true. There's something I should tell you… you know when you, uh, got us turned into objects to stop me from calling Gaston?"

Cogsworth shuddered slightly. He didn't _want_ to remember. But she'd said us. Us, meaning the servants and her. As if they were connected, as if she was on their side. He nodded.

"Well, that guy I called, LeFou," she said slowly, "is Gaston's servant. And, uh, I think he might take a message and have Gaston raid the castle or something…"

"Oh, no." Cogsworth let out a moan. "Why, of all things…?"

This was coming out all wrong. "LeFou has a terrible memory and he's good at messing stuff up so maybe Gaston didn't get the message?" She didn't sound too sure.

"Maybe," Cogsworth said coldly. He couldn't look at Marie. How could she have told on them? He turned away.

"I just thought you should know, so you can, uh, warn everyone." Marie studied his back. "Cogsworth?"

"Well now I am trapped in this dungeon with you, so I _can't_ tell anyone," he snapped, turning back to her cell. "Why you didn't have the sense to tell anyone before I don't know, but now everyone is going to die and it will be all your fault!"

Marie's eyes glittered with tears. Cogsworth lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry," they said, as one, in the dungeon together.

And there they stayed.

------

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"Oh, no, mon dieu! Someone get the door!" cried the feather-duster as it shuffled past.

"But we are objects!" cried the candelabra. "What will they say?"

"Mama, I'm scared," said a teacup softly.

_Knock, knock!_

"Oh, for heavens sake, someone with arms, answer the door," said the teapot crossly.

Everyone looked at Lumiere. "Me? But I'll only set the door on fire!"

"Fine, I will answer it, since no one else seems to know how," said the Christmas angel, gliding across the hall to the door. She stared at it for a moment, and then reported, "It is impossible."

"Angelique, surely not!" said Lumiere. "Here, I will stand on your shoulders…"

Babette made an indignant noise. Angelique smiled in the maid's direction. "Why can I not be on top?" she asked the candelabra. "Since I am the angel that goes on top of the tree?"

"Sure, if you want to catch on fire," Lumiere retorted. "I am looking out for your safety."

"What about me, Lumiere?" Babette asked with a giggle.

"I'm afraid you don't have arms, dear," said Mrs. Potts.

"Where's Cogsworth?" Chip asked suddenly. "He has arms and stuff."

"Where IS Cogsworth?" agreed Lumiere. "I haven't seen him around lately."

Knock, knock, knock! "Open up!" called a voice. "I know you're in there!"

Fear gripped the objects as they heard it.

"Is that—"

"Can it be—"

"Surely not—"

And all the while, Lumiere stood on Angelique's shoulders, who stood on Babette's, until he managed to turn the knob and open the door and they all came crashing to the ground. As the door swung open, however, they all sincerely wished it was closed.

There stood Gaston, followed by about thirty men and women, all clothed in suits and ball gowns. "We're here for the party," said Gaston. And then he spied the objects on the floor. "Well, what have we here?" He laughed. "I have you objects in my clutches at last."


	10. Chapter Ten

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Ten

"What on earth are they _doing _up there?" Cogsworth asked thoughtfully, as scream after crash was heard from the upper floors.

"Uh…" Marie flinched as a particularly loud bang echoed through the dungeon. "Maybe they're redecorating the castle?"

"Now, why would they do that?" Cogsworth replied. "And why is everyone screaming?"

"I've got you now!" cried a voice from upstairs.

Cogsworth froze, recognizing the voice. "No, no, not now…"

"Cogsworth," Marie said softly, holding her hand out to him, "please try to understand."

"My word, it's Gaston!" Cogsworth looked nervously at the door and pulled away from Marie. "What if he finds us down here, oh no, what if—"

"Where's the clock, Gaston?" A voice reached their ears, and the clock in the dungeon was immediately silent.

"What clock, LeFou?"

"Well, I heard the candle over there saying something about a clock."

Cogsworth silently cursed Lumiere. Why did that little showoff have to mention him?

"We have the castle covered… every tower, every wing is being searched as we speak."

"Okay, Gaston!"

"What about the dungeons?" This was a new voice, deep and sure of himself. "Have the dungeons been checked?"

Marie gasped. Cogsworth glared at her. "I know him," she whispered. "His name is Rodrigue; he's my… my brother."

"I doubt the objects would want to live in a dungeon," Gaston said.

"But sir, they might have a prisoner," Rodrigue suggested. "Someone with valuable information for us."

"Marie could be down there, Gaston!" LeFou started to laugh, which earned him a kick in the back. "Oof."

"Don't talk about her that way!" Gaston hissed. "She's the most beautiful girl in town, and she's _mine_."

"See, he only cares for beauty," Cogsworth said smugly.

"No, he's not like that," Marie protested. But just then the door creaked open.

"It's dark down there," LeFou said, instantly backing up a few steps. Gaston pushed him forward, with Rodrigue at his heels.

"LeFou's right, we need some kind of light source," Rodrigue said. "There's no way we could find anyone down there without one."

Gaston turned back to the townspeople in the hall. "Hey, _you_!" He gestured towards a man struggling to stuff something into a bag, only to have the bag catch on fire. "Hand us the candelabra."

A woman ran to him with a bucket of water and poured it over the bag. The man gave a nod of thanks and reached in, gingerly pulling out Lumiere, whose candles instantly relit. "You don't know what a fight this one's putting up, Gaston… here, take 'em."

Lumiere tried his best to burn Gaston's fingers off, but Gaston merely smiled and dumped him into LeFou's arms. Lumiere blew out his light defiantly.

"What are you doing with Lumiere?" Babette called angrily, as she and Angelique were chased by a large man in a tuxedo.

"If you hurt him you will have to answer to us!" cried the Christmas angel.

"Girls! No! I am fine," Lumiere told them. "Worry about yourselves!"

Gaston chuckled. "Are they your girlfriends, candle boy?"

"That would be none of your business."

"Well, then I suppose you won't mind when I"—Gaston stuck out his foot, tripping both Babette and Angelique with squeals from each—"dispose of them."

"No! I mean, of course! I mean, take me instead!" Lumiere protested.

"I don't want your life," Gaston said, "I want your _light_."

With a sigh, all three of Lumiere's candles burst into full flame. "Mark my words, you will pay for this… someday," he said halfheartedly.

Gaston, LeFou, and Rodrigue descended the stairs: LeFou jumping at the slightest noise, Lumiere smirking and dimming his lights as low as possible, Gaston grumbling about how hard it was to be the bravest man in town.

"We know you're down there," Gaston boomed.

"Come out, little objects," Rodrigue coaxed. Suddenly he stopped. "Can you hear that?"

Marie gaped at Cogsworth. "You're ticking," she breathed in his ear.

"Ticking," Gaston agreed, though he hadn't heard Marie's whisper. He took Lumiere from LeFou's arms and held him forward, scowling. The candlelight was now almost too faint to even make a difference. "If you ever want your girlfriends back—"

"You said light, Monsieur, not how _much_ light."

"Well now, I say _all_ your light. Or else."

"We are in the dungeon! Angelique and Babette are up on the first floor. You can do nothing to them here."

"It's almost like you want them to die," Gaston said. "I could easily call back up to my friends and tell them to—" He chuckled as Lumiere's flame grew considerably brighter… to reveal the clock and the mirror crouched in the corner.

"Cogsworth! What are you doing here?" asked Lumiere.

"Not, now, Lumiere," Cogsworth hissed.

"Well what do you know, LeFou?" Gaston beamed wickedly. "There IS a clock we've missed. And what have we here?" He shined Lumiere on Marie, and then looked down, chuckling. Cogsworth moaned; all this time, invisible in the darkness, was the key to her cell. Gaston picked it up and thrust it into the lock, opening the door with a creak. "It looks like the clock has come to free his girlfriend."

"Cogsworth's not my boyfriend," Marie said angrily, "you are!"

"Me?" Gaston laughed. "Why would I want a mirror as my girlfriend?"

"You'd have to be pretty dumb, Gaston, which you're obviously not," LeFou agreed.

"But it's me!" Marie protested. "Gaston, it's Marie!"

There was a long pause. Finally Rodrigue said softly, "Marie? But… but how…?"

"To make a long story short, the objects were all human and then they got turned into objects again and so did I because I was in the castle when Cogsworth prayed to the enchantress that I wouldn't reach Gaston on the phone," Marie said, suddenly realizing the absurdity of this statement. "And LeFou took a message."

LeFou swelled with pride. "Toldja it was important, didn't I?"

"You're not Marie," Gaston said finally. "Marie is the most beautiful woman in town, and you're… you're…"

"She's beautiful_ inside_," Cogsworth retorted, fuming. "I know you only like Marie for her looks, so get away from her now or face the wrath of the objects of this castle!"

"Oh, my, poor me, I'm so scared," Gaston said, sarcasm dripping from his every word. "A little clock is going to unleash his object friends on me so I don't fall in love with his girlfriend. Dream on, mirror," he hissed in her face, "I'd never fall for the likes of you."

Marie was trembling with anger. "But I sent for you! I called you and LeFou said you'd come and take me away from this weird place and, well, just trust me on this one! Or I'll… I'll side with them!" She pointed at Cogsworth, who glared at her.

"Traitor," said the clock.

"What if it IS Marie, Gaston?" Rodrigue suggested suddenly. "I'd know her voice anywhere."

"Yes, it's me!" Marie cried desperately. "Please, Gaston! Please, believe me. It's me. It's me…"

To Cogsworth's horror, Gaston merely stuck out his foot and kicked the mirror aside. "Marie is beautiful," Gaston said again, "and you can't fool me. You're not her! Now, clock, tell me, what have you done with my girlfriend?"

"But she's already told you!" Fuming even more now, Cogsworth mustered up his courage and, taking Marie's hand, walked right between Gaston's legs and waddled as quickly as he could towards the wall. Gaston thrust Lumiere forward, but the two objects were already in the shadows.

"After them!" the man roared, and he was off, with LeFou and Rodrigue at his heels.

Fortunately, Cogsworth and Marie had size on their side: they were so much shorter than Gaston that it was hard, even with Lumiere's reluctant help, to find them in the dark. Cogsworth hurried along the dungeon, dragging Marie behind him, further and further away from the humans in pursuit. Finally the clock leaned over, panting.

"Almost there," he whispered.

"Where are we going?" Marie asked him, doubtful that Cogsworth could find his way out of there in the dark.

He smiled at her. "I have remembered; there's another exit! But we couldn't escape before because the key was gone…" He groaned inwardly. It had been there the whole time! At that moment, Cogsworth greatly envied Lumiere's luck at being turned into a source of light.

Marie ignored the awkward silence that followed and hopped along the wall, running her metal arms across the surface as she went, trying to find something that could be a way out. Finally, her hand bumped into the doorknob with a loud _clang_.

"Cogsworth!" she whispered, as loud as a whisper can be. "I found it, I found the—"

"What was that?" LeFou's voice, quivering with fear, echoed around the dungeon. "I heard a noise! A c-clang or something."

"You fool, LeFou!" Gaston replied. "Keep quiet! It came from over there." He shined Lumiere dangerously near to where Marie was standing.

"I don't like the dark, Gaston," LeFou said softly.

Cogsworth ran to Marie's side. "Here's the door," she breathed.

"How do we, er, open it?" the clock replied.

"They're over here!" Rodrigue called excitedly.

Sharing a nervous glance, Cogsworth and Marie didn't even wait to see if Rodrigue's claims were correct. Cogsworth promptly launched himself into the door, which opened with a loud creak.

Gaston heard and swiveled around. Lumiere's light hit them squarely in the eyes.

After running through the doorway, Marie pushed with all her might and slammed the door shut after them. She saw the candlelight flicker and go out in the dungeon, and then heard Lumiere and Gaston bickering in the darkness. She rolled her eyes. Men.

Marie hopped over to Cogsworth and looked upward. Great. Stairs. More amazing luck.

After a long trek up to the tower, stopping several times for Cogsworth to catch up to Marie, the two of them emerged into a spacious room, though filthy and dust-covered. The curtains were open, and the objects blinked and squinted to see in the sunlight. There was a large, suspicious pile of rubble, or the remains of something that had once been large but had toppled over, spread across the ground. The only sounds that could be heard were a faint squeaking noise coming from the other end of the room, where a piccolo was trying in vain to hop up and reach the doorknob of the other exit.

Eventually he turned around and noticed the others with a loud screech of fear. "Gaston's come, oh no, oh NO!" He looked around nervously, and tried once again to reach the door. Of course, he was no more successful than before, and fell to the ground, the mouthpiece of the piccolo rolling across the room away from him. He hurried to retrieve it.

Cogsworth sighed impatiently. "Fife," he said, "it is only Cogsworth and Marie."

Fife looked up and laughed awkwardly, embarrassed. He shoved the mouthpiece back onto his head. "Well, what do you know? I thought you two were Gaston!"

"We've only just escaped him," Marie said bitterly. "Where _are_ we, anyway?"

"The old music room," Cogsworth supplied. "Of course, the Master chose to build a new one after the demise of Forte, as it was much easier than trying to clean up his remains."

Remains? Marie cringed inwardly. "Forte?" she asked. "Forte, as in the organ who tried to break up Belle and the Beast and got killed in the process?" Webster hadn't said anything in his book about the lifeless organ still lying on the floor in the music room. It gave her the creeps to think that she was looking at a dead body, even if it_ was_ only a ruined instrument.

"How do you know about that?" Fife asked her.

"There's no time for that now; Gaston could arrive any moment!" Cogsworth told them anxiously. "Come _on_!"

"It's no use," Fife said sadly. "The door's closed, and we can't reach it. I came in here to think, but the door closed behind me and I couldn't get out. Next thing I knew I heard shouts that Gaston was invading the castle!"

"Well, this is a problem," Marie observed. "We're stuck here while my crazed ex-boyfriend wants to kill us all."

Fife spun around, and the air filled with the sound of his shrieking. "Sorry," he muttered. "Piccolo; can't help it…"

But just then Madame de la Grand Bouche, the wardrobe, smashed through the door. Bits of wood showered upon the three objects standing inside as they saw her laughing and singing a note so high that it rivaled Fife in annoyance level. Angelique, standing behind her, rolled her eyes. Babette giggled and twirled her plume.

"D sharp," Fife said softly.

Marie laughed in relief. The others had come to save them.

"It's not like we have all day, come on, no hurry," Hak the axe advised.

"I must remember to have this written down," said Webster, to no one in particular, "words put on paper, composed, printed…"

LaPlume beamed. "At your service, Webster!"

"Now, now, first things first," said Mrs. Potts. "We have to get Gaston out the castle, remember?"

"We can defeat 'em just like last time!" Chip said cheerily. "And then we'll all be human again and live happily ever after."

Mrs. Potts smiled warmly at her son. "Right you are, Chip."

"Gaston and Adam are downstairs," Belle, the book, informed them, "fighting one-on-one. Just like before…"

"Cogsworth! Marie!" All heads turned as Lumiere hopped over to join them, grinning mischievously. "Excellent! You are ready for battle, no?"

"I don't understand," Marie said softly. "How did you all get away from the villagers?"

Lumiere held up his hands, narrowly avoiding burning one of Sultan's tassels. "It was not that difficult."

But then Cogsworth turned to Marie. "Marie, I think it's time you decided. Whose side are you really on?"

Marie thought of Gaston and all the good times the two of them had shared. She thought of the Prince, the beast, in the castle, bellowing in fury and throwing her in the dungeon. But then she thought of something else. _"Marie is beautiful, and you can't fool me. You're not her!"_

Gaston liked her because she was pretty. But the objects, who she'd betrayed many times over, who knew she'd been with Gaston, who had welcomed her into their castle anyway…

They liked her for who she was.

In that instant Marie decided. "Of course I'm on your side, Cogsie," she said, making him blush. She smiled. "Now, we've got a castle to save. Who's with me?"

And with a ferocious battle cry, the objects leaped down the stairs, Marie shouting loudest of all.


	11. Chapter Eleven

Dangerous Secrets: Chapter Eleven

Prince Adam and Gaston were engaged in a fierce battle between two strong men, and no one saw Marie sneak up quietly behind them, with Lumiere at her side. Holding the length of rope Hak had found in the boiler room, Marie thought to herself how the plan was never going to work. But it was too late for that now. She saw Cogsworth, perched on a table across the room, give her the thumbs-up sign. She glanced at Lumiere, who nodded.

Gaston shot up into the air in pain. It felt like his bottom was on fire… and sure enough, it was. The candelabra! He scowled and lunged at Lumiere, who simply jumped onto a chair and stuck out his tongue, taunting something in French. With a roar of fury, Gaston threw himself at Lumiere, but the candelabra had already dived to the ground…

Marie saw her chance and threw one end of the rope across him to Cogsworth, who caught it as the two of them tied Gaston to the chair. Sultan bounded across the room and sat down promptly on Gaston's feet, weighing them down to prevent him from standing up. Madame de la Grand Bouche opened up her drawers and the objects pushed Gaston into the largest compartment. She slammed the doors shut, and Marie grabbed the key and locked it.

Gaston hammered on the inside of the wardrobe to be let out, but Madame de la Grand Bouche merely smiled and rolled her eyes, giggling softly.

"Well," said Adam, gaping, "that was, er, convenient."

"You're welcome, master," Cogsworth said with a grin. "The plan was your wife's idea."

"Well, yes, but all I did was stand on the sidelines," said Belle humbly.

"You guys were amazing!" cried Chip.

"Where are the other villagers?" asked Marie, looking around nervously.

Lumiere laughed. "We sent them packing a long time ago, Marie."

"Lumiere was magnifique!" Babette said, swooning over the candelabra.

"I suppose he was all right," said Angelique. "It was mostly my genius, however, that got rid of those intruders. Amateurs at this sort of thing, all of them!"

"_Your_ genius?" challenged Babette. "If it was anyone besides Lumiere, it was surely me…"

Marie ignored the bickering that followed and asked Lumiere, "Uh, did you happen to see a man named Rodrigue when you, uh, drove them out of the castle? He was down in the dungeon with us… about this tall, with reddish hair…"

Lumiere shrugged. "Most of them got away. I suppose he is fine."

There was a long pause.

"If I may butt in," said Webster, "how are we going to become human again?"

"Well. Yes. That." Cogsworth looked at the floor.

"The enchantress listened to you last time," said Marie. "Maybe if you ask her she'll turn us back." She didn't sound too sure.

"Well, perhaps, but—"

And just then the doorbell rang.

Prince Adam sighed. "What timing. I'll get it."

The objects peered into the hallway as their master opened the door. A shriveled old woman was standing in the doorway, a crooked smile on her wrinkled face. In her hand was a single rose. The objects stared.

"Please, sir," the woman croaked, "take this rose in exchange for shelter from the bitter cold."

The Prince took a deep breath before replying, "Of course. Make yourself at home."

She laughed. "You've learned from your mistakes, I see, Adam." The woman winked at him and flounced into the room with the agility of someone much younger. Her smile widened when she saw the fate of the servants. "Well now."

There was an awkward silence.

"No. I am not," the enchantress said quietly.

"Not what?"

"Not the one responsible for the incident eleven years ago, dearie. It's what you had in mind, wasn't it?"

Cogsworth blinked. Suddenly he understood. The clock waddled out to greet the visitor, keeping eye contact and trying to remain calm.

"Hello," the old woman said, clearly amused.

"You." Cogsworth stared at her. "You're an enchantress."

"Yes."

"You didn't turn us into objects eleven years ago, but you know it happened."

"Yes."

"You know who did it. But you won't tell, will you?"

"Yes. No."

"You saved Gaston."

"Yes."

"You answered my prayer the other day. And messed with my words and made us objects again."

"Yes." There was a twinkle in her eye as she said it. "Of course, dear."

"So you admit it! You're an evil enchantress here to kill us all!" Fear showed in his eyes, but Cogsworth never wavered from the spot.

"No." She frowned. "Saving Gaston was for your own good, little clock. You don't want your master to become a killer, do you? Now Gaston can meet a more… appropriate fate. And if he was gone, Marie would have been mourning his death. She never would have come to the castle. Aren't you glad she came, Cogsworth?"

"Well, yes," he said, "I suppose." Cogsworth glanced over his shoulder at Marie. She smiled at him. He grinned and waved in reply.

"And now you'd all like to become human again? Again?" The enchantress laughed. "That song you sang to Belle was rather charming. I believe Lumiere was the genius who wrote it?"

"That would be me!" The candelabra slid across the floor to join Cogsworth. "I am _enchanted_ to meet you, Madame."

Cogsworth groaned. Lumiere rolled his eyes and lazily reached over to burn his companion…

But the fire was gone, along with the candelabra that held it. In its place were two men, Lumiere's hand resting on top of Cogsworth's. With a cry of disgust they pulled apart.

Belle ran into her husband's arms, both embracing each other in celebration. Fife shrieked eagerly, his usual high-pitched, irritating squeak. Chip clung to his mother's leg, giddy with happiness, and Babette kissed Lumiere on the cheek.

"So we are together again?" he asked happily.

"Oui." Babette laughed. Eyeing the sulking Angelique in the corner, Lumiere winked, earning an himself indignant slap from the maid.

Marie ran to Cogsworth, beaming. "Well, Lumiere certainly can't call you coward NOW."

He laughed. "Marie."

"Cogsworth."

He stared. "What happened to 'Cogsie'?"

Marie smiled mischievously. "I thought you hated when I took the worth out of your name."

"Well, yes, I _did_…"

"Cogsie." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "That's why I like you."

Cogsworth turned to thank the enchantress for all she'd done, but there was no one to be seen in the hall save happy servants. The old woman had vanished without a trace.

------

Upon hearing that Gaston had thought he was coming for a party, Prince Adam held an enormous gala that night in celebration of being human again… again. Taking Belle's hand, he led the dances, and was the life of the party next to his wife in her golden ballgown. Lumiere danced with Babette while Angelique sat moodily on the side, but when Babette went off to the restroom, several people noted that Lumiere had started slow-dancing with the castle decorator instead. Marie invited Rodrigue, threatening him first not to try any funny-business or he'd end up like Gaston, but he wasn't any trouble. Currently he was off listening, pained, to one of Madame de la Grand Bouche's stories, while Chip yawned to his mother that it was way past his bedtime.

Cogsworth stumbled through the crowd up to Marie, who was standing by herself near the side of the dance floor. "Hello, Marie," he said, too quickly, "would you… I mean only if you want to… perhaps you'd like… with the dancing and everyone… would you…?"

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Mr. Suave. Let's dance."

Lumiere gaped as he saw the unlikely couple. "Well, mon ami, you certainly won this competition," he noted.

Cogsworth smirked proudly. "Of course! Don't I always?"

"Well next time you are going down! I simply let you win because it was my area of expertise, and Babette happened to forgive me…"

"Give it up, Lumiere; you're only jealous I proved the ladies like me more than you."

"_You?_ You got lucky. You have _no idea_ what it really takes…"

"Is that a challenge, Lumiere?"

"Yes, maybe it is!"

Marie sighed. Lumiere and Cogsworth were fighting. Again. Everything was back to normal.

------

After dinner and dancing, the Prince approached Marie. "I suppose you'll be going home soon?"

Marie stared at him. "But I can't possibly leave now! Everyone's so nice and… and… the villagers hate me now… and Cogsie…"

"Can't she stay, master?" Cogsworth begged.

"She is a pleasure to have around," Lumiere agreed.

"A most notable visitor in our castle's history," supplied Webster. "It would be wonderful should she stay."

"Well…" Adam looked at his servants' pleading faces.

"I could work here," Marie suggested. "I could, uh—"

"Webs can always use help in the library," said Crane.

Webster smiled. "I would be delighted to take you in as my assistant, helper, supporter, aide, associate…"

"Another librarian, huh?" Adam shrugged. "I suppose. You're hired."

Marie laughed. "Hear that, Cogsie? I'm staying!"

"I'll put you down in the list of servants," said LaPlume. "And your full name is?"

"Miriam Dominique Spencer."

"Miriam and Webster?" Cogsworth laughed.

"Of course, clock boy has another pun." Marie rolled her eyes.

Chef Bouche, who had once been a stove, peered out from inside the kitchen. "Marie, your—"

"_SSHHHHHHH!_" she hissed, glancing warily at Cogsworth.

"Your you-know-what is ready," the chef finished.

"Oh. Well then."

"Marie, are you hiding something?" Cogsworth asked curiously.

"No," she said quickly. "Er, come with me."

Following Marie, Cogsworth entered the kitchen. And on the counter was none other than a gigantic bowl of pudding. He whimpered.

"Of course, you're not different than Lumiere," he moaned. "You both get great pleasure in mocking me."

"No. It's for you." Marie shrugged. "There it is. Dig in."

Cogsworth stared, eyes wide. "But… how… you… I…"

"Just do it, Cogsie, before I change my mind and give it to Sultan."

He pulled her into a hug. "Thank you."

She rolled her eyes playfully and left the room.

"Marie, be sure to enter everything that happened tonight into the records of the castle," Webster advised her, handing her the heavy, hand-written book.

"Me?" Marie was taken aback. "But I'm new at this; you know that! I've never done anything like that before; what if I mess up or something?"

"You know what happened better than anyone," Belle said, smiling. "Go on, Marie. Breathe. Think. Write."

"Think of Gaston," said Lumiere. Acquiring several glares, he explained, "To make her relax."

Marie laughed. Her ex-boyfriend was the only one in the castle who hadn't been able to enjoy tonight's activities, as the enchantress had taken the liberty to turn him into an object as punishment for his shallowness before she left. She had picked a most appropriate object: a mirror, forced to stare at everyone but himself. It was odd looking at him as she'd once been, but Marie agreed the enchantress had made a wise choice. Nothing mattered now except that she was here, she was home…

Marie took a deep breath and put her pen to the paper. Webster had trusted her with this job, and while Cogsworth enjoyed his pudding she was going to do it well. Prince Adam's story was there in the book _Beauty and the Beast _from beginning to end.

Now it was time to add her own.

The End


End file.
